Urinary catheter sets comprising a catheter having a hydrophilic coating, a wetting receptacle and a wetting fluid are disclosed in WO publication No. 98111932 (Coloplast A/S) and in WO publication no. 97126937 (Astra Aktiebolag).
Both publications describe catheter sets comprising both a catheter and a package, and in both publications an elongated part of the package forms a tube and is used for leading urine either to the inside of the package for later disposal or to an exterior container e.g. a toilet bowl for immediate disposal.
The use of such catheter sets is described by referring to FIG. 1 of WO 97/26937. First the proximal portion of the pocket 2 is torn off and the elongate shaft 18 of the catheter 3 is manoeuvred through the opening in the proximal end of the pocket 2 and into the urethra of the patient until a flared distal portion 16 forms a mechanical seal connection with the opening. Urine in the bladder of the patient is transported through the lumen of the catheter 3 into the urine collection chamber 12. After emptying the bladder the catheter 3 is manoeuvred back inside the bag 1 and the open end of the pocket 2 closed off for example by tying a knot with the material defining the pocket 2 or clamping the pocket with a clamp.
A disadvantage with these catheter sets is that the mechanical seal connection between the flared distal portion of the catheter and the proximal part of the package does not always work properly and the result is that urine flows backward and out of the package, especially due to restriction of the flow from the catheter into the receptacle due to folding, twisting or kinking of the elongate part of the device leading from the catheter to the receptacle.
GB 2031735 discloses a catheter set comprising a catheter within a package for collecting urine. So does GB 2284764, GB 2033231 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,341. The rearward end of these catheters are either flared outwardly or provided with an arresting member to keep the catheter from leaving the package unintendedly. Non of these references provides an elongated part of the package to serve as a wetting receptacle for wetting the catheter.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,856,932 discloses a catheter set comprising a catheter and a package having an elongated part covering part of the catheter to assist insertion of the catheter in a non-contaminating manner. At the rearward end of the catheter it is flared outwardly to keep the catheter in place in relation to the package during use. This shape of entrance into the package provides the same disadvantages and risks of flow restriction as mentioned above due to possible occurrence of twisting or kinking at the link between the elongated and the broader part of the package. Furthermore a considerable length of the catheter is “inactivated” by not being able to leave the elongated neck and such extra length would have to be added to the catheter in addition to the necessary “active length” causing considerable extra costs. For short catheters this extra length constitutes a considerable part of the total length of the catheter.
The object of the invention is to solve this problem and provide a catheter set preventing the risk of spilling urine over cloth or surroundings when performing intermitting catherisation, especially when performed by the patient him-/herself, and at the same time to provide a catheter set which is simple and inexpensive to produce. It has surprisingly been found that the above drawbacks may be overcome using a catheter set according to the invention.